Furnace feeding device



Dec. 20, 1932. P. R. HORD FURNACE FEEDING DEVICE Filed Dec. 29, 1930 aoooun ooocouuoo Patented Dec. 20, 1932 UNITED STATES PEYTON B. EORD, 0F PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA rummcn FEEDING DEVICE Application filed December 29, 1930. Serial No. 505,450.

My invention relates to furnace feed --devices, and more particularly to an apparatus for use in the firing of domestic heating furnaces, although it may, of course, be employed in various other ways.-

One object of my invention is to provide a receptable or chute on a carriage that may be conveniently moved into position to discharge coal from the chute into a furnace.

Another object of my invention is to provide a receptacle of the character referred to having a spout that is narrow relative to the body portion, and from which all of the coal may nevertheless be readily discharged to the furnace.

A furtherobject of my invention is to provide a combined chute and carriage structure of such form that it may be readily moved from place to place, and which is readily adaptable to furnace doors located at various heights.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a charging device of generally simplified and improved form.

Some ofthe forms which my invention may take are shown "in the accompanying drawing wherein Figure 1 is a side aelevationa-l View of one form of the structure; Fig. 2 is a rear end elevational view thereof; Fig. 3 m is a plan view; Fig.4:s'hows an end wall detail, on an enlarged scale; Fig. '5 shows a ort-ion of the supporting frame, on an enarged scale; Fi '6 shows a modification of the structure of ig. 1, and Fig. "7 is a fragmentary rear end view thereof.

A chute is supported upon a carriage having a pair of frontwheels 5-anda pair :of rear wheels 6, the latter being preferably of the caster type to facilitate movement of the ap para-tusin various directions. The wheels are attached to the underside of a framework composed of a pair of angle-bars 7, each of which has a portion of one flange cut away to permit forming right angle bends in the bars at'the corners of the frame, so that two portions 8-of each bar may extend vertically to serve as uprights. The cut-out flanges are welded together :at the corners 9, to increase the rigidity of :the structure, and .the upright 50 portions 58 of the angles are perforated for the reception of bolts .10. The bolts 10 serve to detachably support vertical barsl l which preferably have a series of ho les,flso that such bars can be adjusted vertically to bring the chute into proper horizontal position with a 55 fnrnacedoor opening. Horizontal braces 12 are secured to the lower portions of the angles 7, and the upright portions 18 of such angles are braced by cross-bars 13. The brace members 12 andv 13 may be welded :to the angles .7 or :be boltedcgthereto, as desired. As shown more clearly in Fig. 5,ithe pertorations in the uprights 8 are of greater diameter the bolts 10, so that the bars ll/can abeangular- 1y mounted,therebypermitting levelling 10f the :chute in case thejfiloor level is named, or the chute may be adjusted to assume an inclined position, if desired.

The chute 15 is mounted between the upper ends oi? the posts 11 and may suitably be composed of sheet metal formed from :a single piece which is cut and bent to the shape shown. I The chute has a flat horizontal n-i'idportion 16 forming .the bottom wall ,of the body portion thereof, the portion l-fibeing continued at 17 to form the bottom wall of the spout portion.

I The side walls 18 of the spout-constitute coritin-uations of the side edges of tliesspollt bottom 17., being bent upwardly therefrom. The side walls 19 ofthe'chute are inclined 111pwardly from the bottom 16 and form continu' ations thereof, .the arrangement iving a greater capacity than if the side Walls 19 ex'- tended-vertically from the bottom 16.

The front end walls 21 of the chute are of triangular form, .as shown in Fig. 4. These pieces2l are out from the sheet at paints between the wall portions 1-8a11d 1.9,, and have their flanges'22 welded to the rear vertical 90 edges of the walls 1'78, and flanges23 welded to the front edges of the walls 19. Goal or other material to beffed from the chute Will tend to slide from the inclined side walls 19 to the bottom 16, so that it can be" forced through the spout 17 without'being seriously obstructed' by the end walls '21.

The rear or receivingend of the chute is formed by bending-up the rear edge portion 24 :of the bottom plate 16 to inclined position. The inclined wall 24 has wing portions 25 which are welded to wing portions 26 that extend in an angular direction from the rear edges of the walls 19. A metal strap or bar 27 is welded or otherwise secured to the upper edge of the chute and has angular portions 28 that may serve as handles whereby the truck may be pushed or pulled from place to place. This bar 27 serves to stiffen the upper edge of the chute.

The upper ends of the vertical bars or posts 11 are bent outwardly as indicated at 11a and welded or riveted to the sides 19 of the chute. Cross bars 29 are secured at their ends to the uprights 11, and support the bottom 16 of the chute, .and they also serve as braces for the uprights 11.

- It will, of course, be understood that the various portions of the chute and spout may be riveted together, instead of welded, and that the chute may be formed of material other than sheet metal.

When using the structure to introduce coal into a furnace, the chute will be filled from a coal pile and then wheeled into such position that the spout 18 will extend through a furnace door opening. A hand tool such as a rake or a garden hoe may then be employed to push coal from the chute 15 into the furnace. The chute may be of such size that it will hold coal sufiicient to fire the furnace for perhaps 24 hours. The use of the chute will avoid the carrying of coal, shovelful-byshovelful from the coal pile to the furnace, and furthermore make it easier to introduce the coal into the furnace without spilling or scattering of the coal. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, I show a struc ture wherein a chute 30, which may be of straight-sided plain channel form, or of the form shown in Figs. 1 to 3, is hung between the upper ends of bars 31, so that the chute may be-rocked or swung in a backward and forward direction to effect discharge of coal from a spout portion 32 into a furnace.

The chute 30 is supported on cross bars 33 that are pivotally connected at their ends to the lower ends of hanger arms or bars 34. The bars 34 are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the bars 31. The bars 33 and 34 thus form a cradle for the chute, by which swinging movements may be easily imparted to the chute. A cross bar 35 extends between each pair of bars 31, and a stop member 36 is secured thereon in position to be engaged by a cross bar 37 which is suitably secured to the bottom of the chute, in the forward direction of movement of the chute.

The movement of the chute isthus abrupt- 1y arrested to jar the chute, whereby a portion of the contents thereof will advance into the furnace.

In order to assure advancement of the coal by the arring of the chute, the hanger arms 34 at the rear end of the hopper are preferably shorter than the forward hanger arms, so that the chute will be moved into inclined positions during its swinging movement. The hanger bars 34 will be attached to the bars 31 at such a point that the chute will be supported in a horizontal position normally.

I claim as my invention 1. A coal chute or the like havin an elongated bottom wall and outwardly flared side walls, a spout having'a bottom wall positioned as acontinuation of the first-named bottom wall and having vertical side walls, the space between each spout side wall and the adjacent outwardly-flared side wall being closed by a plate-like member of triangular form.

Y 2. A coal chute or the like, consisting of a bottom wall having its rear endportion inclined upwardly and its forward end portion continued to serve as a bottom wall of a spout, the said end portions having their longitudinal edges bent upwardly to serve as side walls therefor, and the intermediate portion of the bottom wall having edge portions inclined upwardly to serve as ide walls for the body portion of the chute.

31A coal chute structure comprising a sup porting. frame, vertically-extending bars secured at their lower ends to the said frame and having their upper ends bent outwardly, and a chute having a horizontally-extending bottom portion, and outwardly-flared side walls positioned between the fiared ends of said bars, the said ends being secured to the sides of the chute.

4. A chute structure comprising a body portion of sheet metal having a horizontallydisposed bottom, a spout portion having its bottom wall constituting a continuation of the first-named bottom wall, the rear end of the chute beingclosed by an inclined end wall and by wing portions extending from the edgesof said end wall to the rear edges of the side walls of the chute, and a strap-like member extending across the rearmost edge of the said end wall, the strap ends being continued beyond the edges of the said wall and then bent forwardly to connect the said wing. portions. r

5. A chute structure comprisin a body portion having bottom and side wal s, an end wall of less width than the distance between the side walls, wing portions connecting the edges of the end wall to the adj acentedges of the side walls, and a strap-like member connected to the end wall and the adjacent portions of. the chute structure, the strap member having portions spaced outwardly from the said wingportions, at points intermediate the end wall and the extremities of the strap;

6. The combination with a chute of trough like form, of asupporting member disposed at'eachside of the chute, and vertically-ex tending links each having its upper end connected to one of said supports and its lower end to the chute, whereby the chute may have swinging movement in a generally horizontal direction.

7. The combination with a chute of troughlike form, of front and rear supports at each side of the chute, a link connection between the chute and each of the supports to support the chute for swinging movement in a horizontal direction, and an abutment device limiting swinging movement of the chute in a forward direction. a

8. The combination with a chute of troughlike form, of front and rear supports at each side of the chute, and a link connection between the chute and each of the supports, to support the chute for swinging movement, the link connections to the chute being at a lower plane than the connections to the supports.

9. The combination with a chute of troughlike form, of front and rear supports at each side of the chute, and a link connection between the chute and each of the supports, to support the chute for swinging movement, the links at the front supports being of different lengths than the links at the rear supports, the link connections to the chute being at a lower plane than the connections to the supports.

10. The combination with a chute of trough-like form, of front and rear supports, and a link connection between the chute and each of the supports, to support the chute for swinging movement, the link connections to the chute being at a lower plane than the connections to the supports.

In testimony whereof I, the said PEYTON R. HORD have hereunto set my hand.

PEYTON R. HORD. 

